City voices support for airport, control tower

The air traffic control tower at the Tuscaloosa Regional Airport is one of many losing federal funding after $85 billion in spending cuts were allowed to take affect.

Staff file photo | Robert Sutton

By Jason MortonStaff Writer

Published: Wednesday, April 3, 2013 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, April 3, 2013 at 12:20 a.m.

TUSCALOOSA | A City Council committee voted Tuesday to buy the air traffic control tower at the Tuscaloosa Regional Airport another month of service — through the beginning of June.

However, no solution was reached on how to keep air traffic controllers monitoring Tuscaloosa’s skies beyond that date.

For now, too many questions remain unanswered, officials said, but council and city staff members insist that keeping the tower operational is critical.

“One of the things that concerns me is the uncertainty of the future,” said Councilwoman Cynthia Almond, who chairs the council’s Administrative Committee that hosted Tuesday’s discussion. “But to me, closing the tower — at this point — is not an option.

“We just need to do whatever we can to keep it open.”

That will require money and, if the city elects to contract with a company that provides these services, that could amount to additional expenses of almost $520,000 a year on top of the estimated $764,820 the city now invests in the airport’s yearly operations.

This figure is based on the $43,269 that Robinson Aviation now receives each month from the Federal Aviation Administration to operate the Regional Airport’s tower from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

The Administrative Committee voted to pay the FAA that monthly fee in exchange for leaving the tower open one more month beyond the slated May 5 closing date.

By June, the City Council hopes to decide whether it wants to maintain the contract with Robinson Aviation, seek bids from one of the three other companies that provide the service nationwide, or hire some of the estimated 1,000 FAA-

certified air traffic controllers that are expected to lose their jobs once the 149 towers across the country close as a result of federal funding cutbacks.

The federal budget cuts resulted in a $600 million reduction from this year’s budget for the FAA as part of an overall $85 billion cut from federal programs by the end of this fiscal year and $1.2 trillion over the next decade.

Tera Tubbs, director of the Tuscaloosa Department of Transportation, which oversees the Regional Airport, said that she and Airport Director Wayne Cameron estimate that three full-time and two part-time controllers would be enough to manage the demand.

Additionally, Cameron said the employees currently staffing the air traffic control tower for Robinson Aviation are expected to lose their jobs once the FAA’s funding ends and that they have expressed a willingness to become city employees and continue monitoring takeoffs and departures.

To fund these cost increases, Tubbs proposed the enactment a fuel flowage tax and landing fee, two costs that many airports across the nation employ but have never been applied at the Regional Airport.

Tubbs said her “optimistic” estimate on applying the landing fee, the amount of which would depend on the size and weight of the aircraft, as well as the gas tax on the more than

1 million gallons of fuel sold there annually could mean an additional $600,000 to the approximately $93,000 in revenue the Regional Airport now generates.

But complicating the City Council’s decision is the uncertainty over whether the federal government will reinstate the lost dollars and allow the FAA to keep these towers open.

Officials expressed concern over whether — if the sequestered federal funds are eventually returned — the FAA would resume funding the airport’s tower operations if the city had taken it over.

There were also questions of what the FAA would decide should the city let the tower close.

“The other side is, if we don’t (fund the tower), they could say: ‘Do you really need an FAA-funded tower?’ ” said City Attorney Tim Nunnally.

Mayor Walt Maddox said he fears the loss of the tower will eliminate the recent growth in traffic that the airport has seen.

Mercedes-Benz U.S. International and its surrounding suppliers frequently use the airport for freight shipments.

And of the 54,190 takeoffs and landings documented at the airport in 2012, more than 20 percent — 11,374 — came from military planes taking part in training missions, but military aircraft won’t land at a non-monitored airport, officials said.

Maddox said he foresees an end to the city’s plans to extend the runway, allowing larger and heavier aircraft to begin using the airport, should the tower be eliminated.

Additionally, the mayor said the city has come close to luring companies that operate within the aerospace industry. Having an unstaffed tower will eliminate any chances of bringing those companies in the future, he said.

“That just needs to be part of our calculus as we consider things going forward,” the mayor said. “If the tower closes, in my mind, it possibly eliminates our plans to expand the runway ... and the airport will be relegated to a small airfield, over time.”

<p>TUSCALOOSA | A City Council committee voted Tuesday to buy the air traffic control tower at the Tuscaloosa Regional Airport another month of service — through the beginning of June.</p><p>However, no solution was reached on how to keep air traffic controllers monitoring Tuscaloosa's skies beyond that date.</p><p>For now, too many questions remain unanswered, officials said, but council and city staff members insist that keeping the tower operational is critical.</p><p>“One of the things that concerns me is the uncertainty of the future,” said Councilwoman Cynthia Almond, who chairs the council's Administrative Committee that hosted Tuesday's discussion. “But to me, closing the tower — at this point — is not an option.</p><p>“We just need to do whatever we can to keep it open.”</p><p>That will require money and, if the city elects to contract with a company that provides these services, that could amount to additional expenses of almost $520,000 a year on top of the estimated $764,820 the city now invests in the airport's yearly operations.</p><p>This figure is based on the $43,269 that Robinson Aviation now receives each month from the Federal Aviation Administration to operate the Regional Airport's tower from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.</p><p>The Administrative Committee voted to pay the FAA that monthly fee in exchange for leaving the tower open one more month beyond the slated May 5 closing date.</p><p>By June, the City Council hopes to decide whether it wants to maintain the contract with Robinson Aviation, seek bids from one of the three other companies that provide the service nationwide, or hire some of the estimated 1,000 FAA-</p><p>certified air traffic controllers that are expected to lose their jobs once the 149 towers across the country close as a result of federal funding cutbacks.</p><p>The federal budget cuts resulted in a $600 million reduction from this year's budget for the FAA as part of an overall $85 billion cut from federal programs by the end of this fiscal year and $1.2 trillion over the next decade.</p><p>Tera Tubbs, director of the Tuscaloosa Department of Transportation, which oversees the Regional Airport, said that she and Airport Director Wayne Cameron estimate that three full-time and two part-time controllers would be enough to manage the demand.</p><p>Additionally, Cameron said the employees currently staffing the air traffic control tower for Robinson Aviation are expected to lose their jobs once the FAA's funding ends and that they have expressed a willingness to become city employees and continue monitoring takeoffs and departures.</p><p>To fund these cost increases, Tubbs proposed the enactment a fuel flowage tax and landing fee, two costs that many airports across the nation employ but have never been applied at the Regional Airport.</p><p>Tubbs said her “optimistic” estimate on applying the landing fee, the amount of which would depend on the size and weight of the aircraft, as well as the gas tax on the more than </p><p>1 million gallons of fuel sold there annually could mean an additional $600,000 to the approximately $93,000 in revenue the Regional Airport now generates.</p><p>But complicating the City Council's decision is the uncertainty over whether the federal government will reinstate the lost dollars and allow the FAA to keep these towers open.</p><p>Officials expressed concern over whether — if the sequestered federal funds are eventually returned — the FAA would resume funding the airport's tower operations if the city had taken it over.</p><p>There were also questions of what the FAA would decide should the city let the tower close.</p><p>“The other side is, if we don't (fund the tower), they could say: 'Do you really need an FAA-funded tower?' ” said City Attorney Tim Nunnally.</p><p>Mayor Walt Maddox said he fears the loss of the tower will eliminate the recent growth in traffic that the airport has seen.</p><p>Mercedes-Benz U.S. International and its surrounding suppliers frequently use the airport for freight shipments.</p><p>And of the 54,190 takeoffs and landings documented at the airport in 2012, more than 20 percent — 11,374 — came from military planes taking part in training missions, but military aircraft won't land at a non-monitored airport, officials said.</p><p>Maddox said he foresees an end to the city's plans to extend the runway, allowing larger and heavier aircraft to begin using the airport, should the tower be eliminated.</p><p>Additionally, the mayor said the city has come close to luring companies that operate within the aerospace industry. Having an unstaffed tower will eliminate any chances of bringing those companies in the future, he said.</p><p>“That just needs to be part of our calculus as we consider things going forward,” the mayor said. “If the tower closes, in my mind, it possibly eliminates our plans to expand the runway ... and the airport will be relegated to a small airfield, over time.”</p><p>Reach Jason Morton at jason.morton@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0200.</p>